Crises Of Faith, Resolved
by Amarin Rose
Summary: Three unrelated points in time where Kon could have had an epiphany and come back to the Titans.
1. Always

**Always**

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Rating: PG  
Summary: Kon realizes that he will always be a Titan, and that trumps everything else.  
Notes: Set after _Teen Titans #26_

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…_You'll always be a Titan._

Bart had told Raven to tell him that. But then, Bart had always been an optimist.

Yes, Kon would always be a Titan. But he'd also, always be a Luthor. No matter what he did. And that…that outweighed the part of him that would always be a Super.

But a Titan… Jericho had been a Titan. Tara had been a Titan. Raven was a Titan, and Rose Wilson…maybe she'd be a Titan again.

But Kon would still always be a Luthor…even though he had a soul. And his soul…he'd made that. Not Luthor. Not Clark. Not Kal, or Superman, or Brainiac 1,000,000.

Him. Kon-El. Conner Kent.

Superboy.

It was his soul, and he'd made it, and it was…beautiful. Not evil.

Or at least, not totally evil.

But…he would always be a Luthor. No matter what, he'd always be…evil.

No matter what… That's what he'd said. That no matter what, they needed to stick together, or…

…_We won't let ourselves become…them. _

Tim had told him that, after they'd gotten back from the future where they were all bad guys. He said they had a choice. That there was no 'fate' but what they made.

They'd both agreed to stick together…no matter what.

Kon would always be a Luthor. If.

If he accepted Lex as his father. As 'Pa.' But if he didn't…

If he didn't, then he'd still be…dangerous. But maybe…maybe the Super could beat out the Luthor. Maybe his soul was beautiful because he was okay. Untainted.

Good.

And he'd always be a Titan.

Smiling for the first time in weeks, albeit weakly, Kon pressed the button on his new Titans communicator.

He was going home.

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THE END


	2. Absolution

**Absolution **

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Rating: PG  
Summary: Kon gets it beaten into his head that his friends still care.  
Notes: Set during the end of Supergirl Version 5 #2: glossing. livejournal. com/ 272237. html

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"Hey, they don't call us the 'angsty Teens who need to hang out with our friends' Titans for nothing," Bart said, a subtly pointed barb at Kon.

Tim scowled at him. " Bart," he chided, even as the tilt of his head towards Kon proved that he agreed. Then he turned to talk to the others, and it turned out that the two of them had brought Kory there. Normally she was the one to escalate conflict, but apparently she was there to give Kara the answers she'd been seeking.

The other Titans were just…incidental. Even if they had gone completely over the top when Super**girl** showed up at Super**man**'s homestead. Maybe Batman had a problem with her, but Batman had a problem with everybody. And even if Supergirl was having problems with other heroes, since when did that mean Kon, the ex-Superboy, needed to get a beat-down?

And since when were Gar and Vic 'Smash now, ask questions later' types?

Kon's face fell as he watched Supergirl fly away with Starfire, and the others – his former teammates, former **friends** – gather themselves together go…home.

Maybe Gar and Vic and the others had changed towards him after he got mind-controlled by Lex Luthor and broke them all like tinker toys. Or toy soldiers…

Yeah, probably then. But the other Titans wouldn't have come to Smallville to check and see if he was okay if they didn't care. Kon could be thick, but he understood that.

They were still his friends. They still considered him one of them. Or, well, Vic did.

But if the looks Bart was sending him – and since when did **Impulse** know stealth? – and the ones that Robin **wasn't** sending him were anything to go by…

Yeah. They were still his friends, even if they weren't teammates anymore.

"Stop by any time," Robin told him as they were getting ready to leave. Bart nodded vehemently.

"…I might just do that," Kon said, and even if he never followed up on that promise, it was worth it for the smiles on their faces. He just didn't know if it was safe for him to be a superhero again. And yet, even as a 'former Titan' trouble in the form of his 'cousin' Supergirl had shown up on his doorstep.

And the Teen Titans come to help him. Because he was one of them, and he always would be.

Maybe it wasn't about what he thought they needed – to be safe from him – but what they seemed to think he needed, as well as what they seemed to need – for him to be a member of the team.

Watching as they all flew away, a part of him wanting to follow…Kon thought that sooner, not later…he'd feel like the need was too much to ignore.

He could try and forget having been a member of Young Justice, of the Teen Titans…having been **friends** with Cassie, Tim and Bart…but there was no reason.

Especially when they'd already forgiven him.

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THE END


	3. What We Want, And What We Need

**What We Want, And What We Need **

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Rating: PG  
Summary: Kon doesn't let his own fears keep him from helping his friends.  
Notes: Set during the beginning of _Infinite Crisis._

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"The world needs a Superboy. And right now, you're all they've got," Aunt Martha told him as she left the room with a basket of wet laundry. On calm days, like that day, she still hung her wash out to dry on a clothesline. It was so…normal.

No one would ever know that Superboy was hiding there, in a farmhouse in the middle of Kansas. But, if he wasn't wearing the S anymore…was he really still Superboy?

Kon clicked the TV off, thinking about that. He thought about what his sort of aunt and sort of technically grandmother had said. He thought about the other Superboys he'd met in Hypertime. He thought about the failed experiments before him, including that one Bizarro Superboy.

He thought about how he'd been created because the world needed a Superman, only to find out it was all a lie. But, if it was all a lie…then why, in a world without Superman, did everything go to hell?

Why, in a world without a Superboy, were his friends getting beaten up and maybe even torn apart worse than he'd ever done?

Luthor created him to be…to be something. His secret weapon, his own personal slave-supervillain, his…**son**. But Kon…he could choose to be whatever he wanted.

Even if that did include throwing everything he'd worked for for the past four years away.

Balling his hands up into fists, Kon breathed through the pain of the memories…then let it out in a sigh.

Then he used his TTK – a bit sluggish for his not having (purposely) used it for almost two months – to unbutton his shirt, exposing the S-crest. He carefully took off the fake glasses, and deposited them on top of his folded shirt. Speed-writing a note for Aunt Martha and Uncle John, he took to the skies for the first time in way too long, heading for San Francisco, Titans Tower, and home.

Whether the world needed a Superboy or not…he needed to help his friends.

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THE END


End file.
